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If your diet starts every Monday like mine, then I'm sorry to tempt you today with these delicious Nutella filled Italian cookies, but my foodie friend Natalie from Natalie's Killer Cuisine issued a recipe challenge and I just had to enter. She is hosting this week's BSI Secrect Ingredient Challenge and selected Cocoa Powder as her weapon of choice. As soon as I saw this I knew I had to enter as it would force me to finally make these special cookies that I've been meaning to get to since the holidays.
For those of you unfamiliar with a Pizzelle (pronounced Pit-zel) they are an Italian wafer cookie made using a specialty iron or press to create their unique pattern which resembles a snowflake. The consistency of the cookies is like that of a waffle cone, and depending on the flavors added can certainly be made to taste like one. My boyfriend's grandmother is a wonderful little Italian woman and she is famous for making Pizzelles and i've been saying for a while now how much I enjoyed them and would like to be able to make them. Well for Christmas this year she was kind enough to send me my very own Pizzelle maker and ever since I have been itching to experiment making my own.
Traditional Pizzelles are made using anise extract that gives them a slightly licorice taste, but the base recipe is so simple there is a lot of room for experimentation. Keeping in line with the recipe challenge I concocted a little piece of heaven by making them with Cocoa Powder and spreading the chocolate-hazelnut drug that is Nutella in between to make a cookie sandwich. The end result is a perfectly crispy cookie that is rich in flavor but light and airy with just the right amount of chocolate.